1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to musical instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to interior braces for the soundboard of a stringed instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of internal braces glued to the inner side of a guitar or other musical instrument soundboard is well known. Many shapes and brace location patterns have been developed to improved the volume or quality of tone of the braced instrument.
A thin, flat soundboard 2, illustrated in FIG. 1 incorporates a prior art bracing called xe2x80x9cfan bracing.xe2x80x9d These fan braces 4 are long, thin pieces of wood with uniform thickness and height. Usually fan braces 4 are spaced closer together near the sound hole 10, gradually wider toward the bridge location 6, and even wider as the braces 4 fan out behind the bridge 6. Large stop braces 12 are located to further support large, thin soundboards. Two additional large stop braces 8 are located to isolate the active portion of the soundboard 2 from the sound hole 10.
The prior braces may be rectangular in cross section or curved as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and are made of solid wood glued to the back of the soundboard 2. It is also common to scollop the ends of braces at their ends as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Known braces are of solid wood, providing support to the soundboard, but reducing tone volume and quality.
It would be desirable to provide a brace design which has minimum weight and increased flexibility while providing desired bracing to the wood soundboard. Such a brace would increase volume and quality of tone to the instrument when played.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,395, issued Apr. 18, 1972, to Kaman, describes braces made of wood such as spruce with their end portions scalloped to reduce the mass, although other shaping of the braces may be use, such as gradual feathering.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,770, issued Nov. 28, 1995, to Taylor, describes a catenary bracing design having a generally flat side surface and a curved catenary side surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,654, issued Mar. 21, 1978, to Kasha, describes the use of torsion bars and tapered acoustical structures adhered to the sound board.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a musical instrument brace solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The present invention is directed to interior braces for the soundboard of a stringed instrument. The weight of each of the braces is further reduced by apertures selectively formed therein. A standard brace having scalloped ends may be modified according to the invention by introducing apertures of circular or other shape crosswise through the brace, thus forming voids therealong thereby reducing weight and reducing stiffness while maintaining substantially its original strength when glued to the surface of a soundboard.
Another embodiment of an inventive brace in the shape of an xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d beam is provided, the xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d beam being cut from solid wood, or built up from strips of wood by glueing. Preferably, circular or elongated apertures, or other shaped apertures are introduced along the length of the center vertical portion of the brace creating voids for reducing weight. A similarly shaped brace is provided which is curvilinear in shape having a flat base, concave sides and a rounded apex. The brace may have circular or other shaped apertures introduced along the length of the thin neck portion creating voids for reducing weight.
The inventive braces having reduced weight and stiffness while maintaining required strength when glued to the underside of a soundboard provides more volume and better tone quality to the board as compared to previous braces, allowing the soundboard to vibrate with a larger amplitude while maintaining required strength and stability.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a brace structure for musical sound board which improves volume and tone quality over those with previous braces.
It is another object of the invention to provide a brace structure as above which reduces mass and retains strength.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a brace structure as above having lateral apertures therethrough spaced along the brace acting as voids to reduce mass.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a brace structure as above having an xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d beam shape or concave sides, thereby minimizing mass while retaining strength in the brace.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a brace structure as above having lateral apertures therethrough spaced along the xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d portion of the brace acting as voids to reduce mass.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.